Taliban behead two Pak officials in Swat

Pakistani Taliban have beheaded two government officials in the northwestern Swat Valley in revenge for the killing of two insurgent commanders by security forces, a militant spokesman said on Sunday. Authorities struck a peace deal in February aimed at ending militant violence in the former tourist valley of Swat but the militants have refused to disarm and pushed out of the valley into neighbouring districts.

The Taliban aggression raised alarm in the US and in Islamabad, and a week ago the security forces launched an offensive to expel militants from two of neighbouring districts.

The two government officials were kidnapped and beheaded on Saturday evening in Khuwaza Kheil, a village 18 km north of the valley’s main town of Mingora, said town police chief Danishwar Khan. Their bodies were dumped beside a road. “They beheaded the officers. We’ve sent an ambulance to pick up the bodies,” Khan said. Militant spokesman Muslim Khan said the beheadings were revenge for the killing of two low-level Taliban commanders earlier on Saturday.

The US State Department said last week the number of people killed in terrorist attacks Pakistan last year rose by 70 % over the 2007 figure. The violence has raised fears for the prospects of the vital US ally in its efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan.